Interviews of Archie Johnstone

In track 1 of 2 EL6/1/1/1, Archie Johnstone (born 1937), talks about his life as part of a family of fishermen in Cockenzie and Port Seton. Archie explained that his family roots could be traced back to the Solway in the 1640s and thought it was likely the family had moved here looking for work. He talks about his family connections to Ferny Ness, near Longniddry, and about the extent of the Johnstone family in the area. During World War 2, the ledger books at the local Royal Bank of Scotland recorded the details of 147 Johnstone families in Port Seton. For this reason, family nicknames were often added to the ledger to aid identification and Archie talks about many of the local nicknames (his own family nickname is Doodie), how these came about and the circumstances under which they were used

Archie talks a little about his schooldays, and then the rest of this interview is about his life at sea – beginning with him joining his father’s boat aged 15. Archie provides lots of details about different aspects of fishing including: what types of fish were caught, the fishing year, tasks, training and wages on the fishing boats, making up the wage to support sick crew members, the process for landing the catch and preparing it for harbour and how the fish was sold and monies distributed once the boat was back in harbour. Most of the Port Seton fishing boats landed their catch at Newhaven where the fish was sold by type and then distributed. Archie said that at one time there were 35 houses in Port Seton which took fish to sell on locally.

In this second recording, Archie describes life on a fishing boat, especially with regard to food. He recalls that in the days before fridges and microwaves on board, the crew would use tinned milk and their diet was very much the same from one week to the next. They would always have a cooked breakfast (eaten in rotation while the fishing was going on above deck) and would eat fish every day, the type depending on the catch. With regard to superstitions among fishermen, he notes that they had no pork on board and that salmon was always referred to as the ‘red fish’. He talks about the layout of the boat, noting that there was a fine balance to be struck between providing enough room for the catch and engine room space to power the boat.

There is also information here about the Skipper’s Ticket, which was needed for larger boats. Because of his colour-blindness, Archie wasn’t able to sit for this qualification. He also talks about different methods of navigation including the buoy system and sector lights and discusses how in-boat navigation systems have largely replaced the role of the lighthouse.

Towards the end of the interview, Archie talks about how the life of a fisherman has changed over time and the impact of different factors such as increasingly large boats, changes in working patterns and fish stocks. He notes that his first crew stayed largely stable for 16 years, but this stability was challenged by changing fishing practices and the falling price of fish. In Archie’s case, this led him to move to prawn fishing, which is more local and requires a smaller crew. He also describes the prawn fishing pricing methods, noting different systems favoured by crews.